The Alley
by music-and-fairytales
Summary: Stella's cover is blown in an undercover operation. Will Mac's attempt to save her end up ruining their friendship forever? Or will it be the beginning of something better? SMacked!


**Hey everyone! Here's my latest oneshot. Came from one moment which just popped itself into my head and then wouldn't go away lol. Took me a couple of hours to get it right and there may be a couple of mistakes in there so I'm sorry for that lol. I'm really unsure about it but I hope you enjoy it! xxx**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything.**

**WARNING: Rating is mostly for swearing but also slight mentions of prostitution and rape as part of the case. If that bothers you then don't read this.**

**Thanks to mimi for being so supportive about this story and beta-ing. Ily! xx**

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Mac sat with Danny in the van, watching and listening carefully as he tried to detect any sign of something going wrong. He was anxious. More anxious than he could remember being in a very long time. He just knew something was going to happen.

Four people in one undercover mission.

Something was bound to go wrong. Flack, Angell, Lindsay, and the reason for his distress – Stella. He worried about her. He was waiting for a sign from any of them. A sign that their suspects had arrived.

They had been working the same case for a week. Three prostitutes found dead in one suburb. All of them had been beaten and raped before being shot, execution style, between the eyes. They were gruesome scenes and though the CSIs had evidence as to who committed the crimes, they didn't have enough to arrest the men. When Stella and Mac had spoken to some of the more trustworthy girls who worked the area, they had confirmed the CSIs' suspicions. However, the word of three prostitutes was apparently not enough to warrant an arrest. So, Mac had come up with the idea of an undercover operation. Getting some of the female police officers to pretend to be prostitutes, wear wires, and see if the gang would turn up. He was regretting it more than ever, because as soon as he had voiced the plan to his team, Stella and Lindsay had both volunteered. When Flack passed the idea onto Angell, she had also volunteered. He wanted to protest their involvement in the operation, but couldn't find the right words. So he'd simply nodded, given them all a brief outline of the plan, and left the room.

He'd walked into his office and paced for a while, before stopping and staring out the window into the city. He hadn't noticed he'd been followed until he felt someone lay their hand gently on his shoulder. His shoulders sagged and he sighed. He knew it was her.

"Stell..."

"What's wrong, Mac?"

He didn't answer so she placed her hands on his arms and turned him around slowly. He looked at her and saw the question repeated in her eyes.

"I don't want you to be in the undercover op," he said quickly, before he could change his mind. "You might get hurt."

Looking at her eyes, he saw confusion change to anger in a second. She took her hands off him and stepped back.

"What? You think I can't handle myself? I can't go into an undercover operation because... why? Do you think I'll blow my cover or something?"

He began pacing again, not prepared for the questions she asked.

"No, I..."

"Then _what?_"

He sighed and stopped walking again. What could he say? _Stella, I don't want you to go because I think I'm in love with you and I couldn't stand it if you got injured._ No. She was his best friend. And that was it. He'd ruin everything if he said something like that. He ran his hand through his hair, searching for appropriate words to explain.

"I just ... I worry."

He looked at her and saw her eyes soften. He knew he didn't have to go on. She understood. She stepped closer to him again and placed one hand on his cheek.

"Mac, it's okay. It'll be okay. We'll be fine."

She rubbed her thumb across his cheek for a moment and then stepped away again. Giving him a reassuring smile, she turned and left the room, claiming she had to get ready.

When she was out of sight, he sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. He was regretting the idea already.

An hour later, Flack had come and tapped on his office door, looking distinctly uncomfortable and telling him 'the girls' were ready to go and were awaiting instruction in the breakroom.

When he arrived in the breakroom, he discovered why Flack had looked so uncomfortable. Stella, Lindsay and Angell were all dressed up and ... _wow._

Stella was wearing an emerald green dress that was shorter than any he had ever seen before. It brought out the colour in her eyes and the stiletto heels accentuated the length and shape of her long legs. The dress dipped a little at the neck, exposing at least an inch of cleavage and her eye make-up was dark and smoky. She looked ... he couldn't describe it. All he knew was it suddenly felt a lot hotter in the room.

Lindsay and Angell also looked gorgeous, and he understood why Danny and Flack were so uncomfortable. They were probably thinking along the same lines as he was. Lindsay wore a yellow sparkly top and a short skirt, while Angell had a deep red halter-neck top (which also exposed a decent amount of cleavage) and tight denim mini-shorts. All of them had layered the make-up on and they looked good. He had no doubt they could play the part the operation required them to.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, so just running over everything. The gang call themselves the 'back alley boys' and there are 5 of them. They're about early twenties in age and they answer to no-one but themselves. They're recognisable by the black hooded sweatshirts they wear, which has the gang's logo on the back. Now, Lindsay, you'll be waiting on the corner just across from the van where Danny and I will be. Flack, you go with Angell to the other side of that block and stay somewhere in the shadows. Stella, you'll be wandering around the 2 blocks we have set out, just keeping a lookout and generally playing the part, okay?"

When they all nodded, he continued. "Do you have your wires on already?" They nodded again. "Okay then let's do this."

They had all headed out into the van and Mac drove, pulling away from the kerb outside the lab. "Now I know you four have wires on, but Flack is the only one with an earpiece. So Lindsay and Stell, we won't be able to communicate with you. We'll be able to hear everything that's going on though, and we have access to the surveillance cameras in the area."

"How many are there?" Lindsay asked and Mac grimaced.

"Two. One gives us a view of the corner that Flack and Angell are on, and one shows the dark alleyway on the outside edge of the two blocks we're posted on."

The rest of the ride was done in silence. As the van approached its destination, it dropped off Flack, Angell, Lindsay and Stella in separate places to avoid suspicion. When Mac and Danny pulled over into the set location, Lindsay had just positioned herself. They climbed into the back and set up the surveillance and speakers.

"Flack, can you hear me?" Mac had asked and received a reply soon after. Danny was watching Lindsay, while Mac watched the screens showing the views from the surveillance cameras. He saw Angell with her back against a wall, and Flack standing in front of her, with his hand resting on the wall over her shoulder. Mac smirked, a momentary lapse in his fear caused by his amusement at their positioning.

And now, 20 minutes later, here he was. Sitting in a stuffy van, trying not to panic about the fact that he hadn't seen Stella on the cameras for 5 minutes. 5 whole minutes. As if she could read his thoughts, he suddenly heard her voice from over her wire.

"Don't freak out Mac. I'm still here." He grinned and saw her come around the corner and walk past Lindsay. "See?"

As she turned out of sight again, Mac heard an uncomfortably familiar voice from one of the wires.

"Detective Bonasera?" His mind identified the voice as Trixy, one of the prostitutes who'd given information to them on the gang.

"Trixy! What are you doing here?"

"I work here remember? And why are you dressed like ... like one of us?"

"Oh, I'm just on my way back from a party."

He heard Trixy snort. "Yeah right. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Stella laughed. "I'll see you around Trix."

There was silence for a moment and then Mac heard footsteps fading away. He saw Trixy turn at the corner and walk away from the area they were investigating. He let out a sigh of relief. It was only momentary however as he heard Flack's voice come over the speakers.

"Mac, I think they're coming. I know you can't see where they are but they're about 3 blocks down from us and walking this way. There's 5 of them and they look a lot like our guys."

Mac tensed and Danny kept his eyes on Lindsay.

"Just stay put Flack and let us know what's going on."

Mac anxiously searched the screen for Stella and saw her appear on the corner with Angell and Flack. He then heard their voices quietly.

"Stell, the gang's coming. 2 blocks away."

"Got it," she said in reply, and kept walking. Watching the scene, nobody would have known that they had spoken at all. Stella had just left the camera's sight when he heard Angell say "Incoming."

A few moments later he could see some shadowy figures enter the scene. He heard Flack and Angell begin flirting outrageously and heard quiet laughter in the background. The laughter got louder as the men got nearer to Flack and Angell and he began to be able to hear what the men were saying.

"...and so I was like 'suck on this!' and I put it in her mouth and she did! She was crying her fuckin' eyes out too but I didn't stop til I got off. Fuckin' whore got what she deserved."

Mac felt the anger boiling in his veins but forced himself to focus. He heard a mobile phone ring and saw the leader of the gang answer it.

"Yo. Trix? What do you want? What? They're ain't no fuckin' cops here! Undercover? Fuck! What's she wearin'? Green? Yeah, I'm on it."

Mac felt his heart sink as he saw the man put the phone away.

"Come on boys. There's some bitch cop around here tryin' to rat us out. Let's get her."

Mac looked on the screens and saw Stella halfway down the dark alley, furthest from where Flack and Angell were.

"Mac, they're headed in her direction," he heard Flack say quietly. He needed no further encouragement.

"Danny, get Lindsay back in here right now and then don't leave. Flack stay put. Danny will tell you if we need help. I'm going to get Stell."

With that, he ran out of the van, heading towards the alley where Stella was. His heart was pounding and he ran as fast as he could towards the alley. It seemed to take forever, every second he couldn't see her seeming to stretch into an hour. He rounded the corner and took in his surroundings. Stella was a few metres ahead of him, walking slowly next to a dumpster and he could hear the gang's laughter not far away.

"Mac? What..."

He ran towards her and dragged her over next to the dumpster, trying to think of a way to disguise who she was. Quickly, he took off his overcoat and draped it over her shoulders, successfully covering the straps of the dress. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the gang leader round the corner and an idea came to him.

"Go with me on this."

He then pushed her roughly back against the wall and smashed his lips onto hers. He felt her gasp and he pressed his body up against hers in an attempt to hide her dress. Stella moaned and wrapped her arms around Mac's neck. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, gladly giving him access. Mac deepened the kiss and all thoughts of the dangerous gang following them left both their minds as they were temporarily overwhelmed by the sensation.

"Where is the bitch, anyway?"

Stella felt Mac tense against her and they became aware once more of their surroundings and the danger they were in.

"She said green dress, yeah? I don't see no cop in a green dress!"

Stella tensed and suddenly understood why Mac was doing what he was doing. He pushed himself against her harder and despite her fear, she couldn't stop another moan from leaving her.

"Yo Ray! Check out these two!"

Stella threw herself into the kiss when she felt Mac start to freeze up, aware they were being watched. She seemed to have reminded him of the urgency of their situation, as he redoubled his efforts with his mouth and ran his hands up and down her sides. They heard the five guffawing and whistling for a few moments before they continued on their way along the alley.

Mac opened one of his eyes and saw the gang members round the corner and go out of sight once more. He reluctantly stopped kissing Stella, but remained leaning against her, panting. He could feel her heavy breathing as she buried her face in his neck and after a few moments she mumbled, "Are they gone?"

He checked once more, and listened to hear their laughter. There was silence and he knew they were far away. He nodded and pulled away from her, immediately missing the warmth of her body against his.

"I'm sorry Stell. I'm so sorry, but I had to..."

"It's okay Mac. Thankyou. I didn't even know they were behind me, let alone the fact that they knew I'm a cop. Thanks for covering for me."

He nodded, accepting her gratitude. They waited a few more moments to get their breathing under control and there was silence in the alley. When his was back to normal, Mac looked over at Stella. She was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed and still breathing slightly heavily. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen and her hair tousled and it struck him how beautiful she was. She seemed to sense his stare because at that moment she opened her eyes and smiled at him. He blushed and looked away.

"Come on. We should get back to the van and get everyone back. We heard one of the guys talking about an attack before, so we have enough to get a warrant."

Stella grinned. "Good."

As she pushed herself off the wall, she drew Mac's coat around her tighter and checked to make sure it covered her dress completely. He waited and they walked slowly towards the end of the alley. Mac put his hand out to stop her and checked that the street was clear before gesturing for her to come out. She smiled at his protective nature, something which usually annoyed her, but tonight she found endearing. When they reached the van, Mac held the door open for her to climb into the back, and then followed her in. When he turned around, he saw Stella and Lindsay having some sort of silent conversation (which involved a lot of giggling from the younger woman), and Danny grinning widely at him. He was confused for a moment and then he remembered.

The surveillance cameras. Danny and Lindsay would have seen everything.

Trying to hide his grin, he said "Shut up Danny," and turned to the machines in front of him.

"Flack, we're all okay. Can you and Angell come back now? It's over."

Flack confirmed the order and Mac watched as they left the camera's vision and a few moments later, joined them in the back of the van.

"So, what happened?" Angell asked as she climbed in, closely followed by Flack.

Danny grinned again. "Mac made out with Stell against a wall."

Angell's eyes widened and Flack was silent for a moment, before he grinned and said; "Nice."

Mac blushed and looked at the floor and Stella took over.

"Come on guys, leave him alone. He pretty much saved my life. Let's just go home and deal with these guys in the morning." There was a murmur of agreement as Mac climbed into the driver's seat and pulled away.

15 minutes later, they all got out at the lab and said their goodnights. Danny and Lindsay headed straight for the carpark, as did Flack and Angell, all with the intention of going home and sleeping it all off. Mac, however, turned and entered the lab, heading towards his office to complete the paperwork on the operation. When Stella noticed he wasn't going to his car, she went up to the lab after him and walked through the dark corridors towards the light in his office. She hung back in the shadows, content to just watch him for a few moments.

He sat at his desk with his head in his hands, wondering how he could ever have been so stupid. How he could have just _kissed _Stella Bonasera and potentially ruined the most important friendship in his life. Would things be awkward between them now? He didn't know. He hoped not. He hoped they'd just move on like it never happened, even though he knew he'd never forget it. Never, ever, would he forget that kiss. The heat, the urgency, the passion of his first kiss with Stella. The woman he'd dreamed about for years.

A tap on the glass startled him out of his thoughts and he lifted his head to see her standing there.

She walked into his office and sat on the edge of his desk, looking disapprovingly down at the paperwork in front of him.

"Come on, Mac. Don't do this now. Go home. We're both tired, and don't even try to say you're fine because I can see in your facial expression that you're just as tired as I am."

She always could read him well.

"I'm okay Stell. This just needs to be done that's all."

She shook her head, curls bouncing.

"Not an excuse! I'll help you do it in the morning. Now come on! I'm gonna go change back into my normal clothes and we'll go have dinner." She glanced at the clock. "A really late dinner."

He smiled. "Okay, Stell."

She grinned triumphantly. "Okay, I'll be back in five minutes."

Sure enough, when she returned five minutes later she was dressed in casual clothes once more. She dragged him out of his chair and out of the lab to an Italian restaurant she favoured.

They sat down, ordered and began eating without him saying a single word. He couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. As they ate, Stella began conversation and managed to get him to participate in it. After they finished their meals, he paid (despite her protests) and they left the restaurant. Once out on the street, she turned to him.

"Mac, what is it? You've never been so quiet and ... reserved around me before. What's on your mind? Did I do something wrong?"

He sighed. It was pointless to resist.

"You didn't do anything, Stell. I just ... can't help but worry that kiss is going to change everything between us. The thing is ... it was more to me than just an undercover op. You ... you drive me crazy sometimes and half of that scenario we played out wasn't just for the gang's benefit, you know? Not in my mind. And I know you probably don't feel the same way and I've probably just ruined everything but, I just don't wanna lose you as a friend, Stell. You're my best friend and I don't want..."

She cut him off by pressing her lips against his. She broke the contact after a few seconds and beamed at him.

"Mac, you'll never, ever, lose me as your best friend. I'll always be here, no matter what happens and ... as for that kiss? It meant more to me, too."

His eyes widened and he was stunned into silence for a few moments.

"Are you sure, Stell? Do you really want this?"

She grinned and nodded. He felt his heart swell with love for her as he slowly moved in, wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to hers once more. It was gentle at first, but once he'd had a taste of her he was addicted and he never wanted to let her go.

"Come back to my place?" he asked, hoping she would accept. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked at him questioningly. He caught her meaning and laughed as he shook his head. "No, not for that. Just to sleep. Just so I can hold you and know that you're with me and you're safe."

She grinned and nodded. He kissed her once more and they walked home together, arm in arm, and happy.

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**Please review and let me know what you thought. xxx**


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